Bermuda Travel Diary

A definitive guide to everything from my island adventure.

Last week, I attended the Bermuda Fashion Festival in the city of Hamilton, Bermuda. As part of a program where editors and industry professionals from New York mentored local Bermudian designers, I found myself jet-setting to the tropical oasis for an ideal combination of business and pleasure. Though I've made countless trips to Caribbean Islands and a few to Miami, this was my first time in Bermuda and it didn't take me long to realize I definitely needed to start making up for lost time. The trip itself, barely two hours from NYC is one of the quickest I've ever taken, and before I'd even cracked the latest issue of ELLE, I was already at my destination. For a few months prior to the trip, I spent time helping a local designer hone her skills and perfect her collection. Challenged with creating a 12-look runway, show, it felt like a very exotic version of Project Runway . It was fascinating to see what the local talent was able to accomplish on an island where barely anything is manufactured. Nearly everything is imported because if you thought that New York City's garment district was crowded, the entire country of Bermuda is 22-miles, not really ideal for manufacturing and production. What these Bermudian designers accomplished was a huge feat and incredibly inspiring. The sunshine and beaches weren't too shabby either. Here is a definitive guide to everything I did (and wore) on my island adventure.

More

view gallery

01of20

01Of20

01Of20

Bermuda Travel Diary

Bermuda Travel Diary

Instagram

01Of20

First stop, The Swizzle Inn. In Bermuda, the official drink is a “rum swizzle,” a delicious concoction of rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and grenadine.

Bermuda Travel Diary

First stop, The Swizzle Inn. In Bermuda, the official drink is a “rum swizzle,” a delicious concoction of rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and grenadine.

Instagram

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

3Of20

In The Swizzle Inn, one of the local traditions is to write your name on a table. When they ran out of space, they started decorating the walls. Almost every inch of this place is totally covered. There are even business cards hanging from the ceiling.

Instagram

4Of20

All day long, sailing schools are in session around the island. During a break from fashion show prep, these colorful little boats caught my eye, sailing in an area called Paradise Lake, which isn't really a lake at all, but a beautiful, calm area of the sea where people park their boats for a party.

Instagram

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

5Of20

Everyone on the trip sported some variation of the slip-on sandal. This photo of our Birkenstocks proves that they work with any look.

Instagram

6Of20

On my way to lunch at the Fairmont Southampton with some of the other fashion mentors, we drove past the most beautiful beach I'd ever seen. There was an audible gasp that went through the car. Our driver even agreed that this was a photo op we couldn’t pass up.

Instagram

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

7Of20

Also visiting Bermuda was swimwear designer Anna Laub of Prism, who was in town for a local trunkshow of her latest collection. She encouraged us to put on our suits and get in front of the camera, thus inspiring this shot of me and my lookalike, Bianca Maxwell.

Instagram

8Of20

All of the editors that came to Bermuda were paired up as mentors with local designers and helped prepare them for the debut of their collections during Bermuda Fashion Week. This is one of my favorite dresses from Nahlijah Williams who brought down the house.

Instagram

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

9Of20

This was the show-opener for my mentee, Satara Caisey. She was inspired by Bermudian natural landscapes and this dress, which she hand-dyed herself, takes it’s colors from the hibiscus flower. The model is a Bermudian girl who just graduated from high school and is pretty much ready to be scooped up any minute. Good thing model scouts from Elite were also in attendance.

Instagram

10Of20

Here, a look from the winner of the City Fashion Festival, Alshante Foggo, who designed a killer swim collection featuring suits that she hand-painted.